Cajanus cajan Seeds | Pigeon Pea
LATIN NAME: Cajanus cajan
COMMON NAME: Pigeon Pea
Plant Profile
Pigeon pea is a short-lived perennial shrub of the legume family, one to three metres tall, with trifoliate leaves and yellow flowers that give way to flat, hairy pods containing four to six round seeds. It is grown across the dry tropics, and India accounts for most of the world crop.
The plant is deep-rooted and drought-tolerant, and it can be cut back and allowed to regrow for several years. Seeds are eaten as split peas, as dhal, and as fresh green peas in parts of Africa and the Caribbean. The taproot can reach two metres in the first season, which is why the plant survives dry spells that kill maize.
Science & Biotechnology
Pigeon pea is one of the few grain legumes that can be intercropped with cereals without competing for water, because its taproot goes deeper than the cereal’s roots. It fixes nitrogen through rhizobia and sheds leaf litter that improves soil organic matter, which is why it is a standard component of dryland rotations.
The seed protein is around twenty to twenty-two per cent, limited by low methionine and tryptophan, and it contains antinutritional factors including trypsin inhibitors and tannins that are reduced by soaking and cooking. Breeding has produced short-duration varieties that fit into a single rainy season. The plant also produces a sticky exudate from the pods and stems, which is collected in some regions and used as a birdlime and in traditional medicine.
Uses & Benefits
Split seed is the base of dhal and of many Caribbean rice-and-peas dishes. Green pods are cooked as a vegetable, and the young shoots are eaten in some regions. The plant is also grown for fodder, for green manure and for shade in young plantations.
The seed coat is high in tannin and is often removed before cooking. As with all legumes, cooking is essential, and the water used for soaking is discarded. In parts of Africa the leaf is used as a potherb and the stems as fuel. The plant is also used as a host for lac insects in India, and the wood makes good fuel and charcoal.
Growing from Seed
Seed has a hard coat in many varieties. Scarify lightly or soak in water for twelve hours before sowing, and treat with the appropriate rhizobium inoculant if the soil has not grown pigeon pea before.
Sow after the first reliable rain, at sixty to ninety centimetres within the row and a metre between rows. The plant is short-day and flowers earlier at low latitudes, and the long-duration types can reach three metres and need wider spacing. Pods are picked green for vegetables or left to dry for seed, and the stems are cut at ground level so the plant can regrow.
Our Take
A drought-hardy legume that feeds people and improves soil at the same time, and the most useful shrub legume for a dry garden or field.
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